I must apologise to whichever forum member explained this, and whose name I've forgotten, but the whole "running towards a large area of glass whilst emptying a firearm" will not dramatically shatter the glass, due the layers of plastic laminate.

Instead, you'll create a lovely pattern of spiderweb shattering and, when you hit the glass, the laminate will flex and then flex back, cutting your skin to ribbons.

I must apologise to whichever forum member explained this, and whose name I've forgotten, but the whole "running towards a large area of glass whilst emptying a firearm" will not dramatically shatter the glass, due the layers of plastic laminate.

Instead, you'll create a lovely pattern of spiderweb shattering and, when you hit the glass, the laminate will flex and then flex back, cutting your skin to ribbons.

Is this just for things that happen in films or can we ask about stuff that friends tell us down the pub?

Like the thing with half a tennis ball that opens car doors? Apparently you could use half a tennis ball on older car doors, place it over the lock, give it a good whack and the air pressure would open the lock.

I was also told that on older ATMs, they would only count the money going out, not the money being sucked back in if the customer forgot to collect it. So if you ordered £60, you could split the top and bottom note and take the middle note out - as long as you didn’t move the little wheels that move the money back and forth it would then take the top and bottom notes back into the machine without knowing the middle not had been removed. This way you could get yourself a free (illegal) £20. I’ve always wanted to try it but never have. Sounds too good to be true.

Is this just for things that happen in films or can we ask about stuff that friends tell us down the pub?

I was also told that on older ATMs, they would only count the money going out, not the money being sucked back in if the customer forgot to collect it. So if you ordered £60, you could split the top and bottom note and take the middle note out - as long as you didn’t move the little wheels that move the money back and forth it would then take the top and bottom notes back into the machine without knowing the middle not had been removed. This way you could get yourself a free (illegal) £20. I’ve always wanted to try it but never have. Sounds too good to be true.

That sound downstairs you hear during the night in all likelihood isn't a serial killer. Which is why you check, assuming you can be arsed. So next time some would-be film critic declares a movie character "stupid" for doing exactly that, break into said critic's house at, say, 0300 hours and gut them if they slope on down.

Despite every 80's action flick and GTA, cars don't explode if you shoot them with normal rounds. They do if incendiary rounds are used but not standard bullets. I've read that the same goes for flamethrowers. In Battleground you take them out by blasting the fuel tanks on their backs. Nope. Hit the compressed air supply and it'll go boom-boom but a shot to the fuel tank will only leave a hole.

Please note that I have no experience of the above subjects! It all comes from wacky Wikipedia and other online sources for an art project. Do not try this at home!

I've been trying for years to get kids to try Douglas Adams' theory of unpowered flight. They always seemed a bit sceptical about the idea and struggled with the timing to distract themselves. Did have a class convinced in the Flat Earth theory though.

I once saw a documentary about an Allied raid on Norway using ground troops in WWII. During it, an old soldier related a story of how he and his unit were stuck inside some building/farm/place and they needed to get through a locked door. He recalled the cowboy films he had watched where shooting a lock always seemed to do the trick but when he did it the bullet ricocheted around the room and they were extremely lucky no-one was hurt or killled. The door did not unlock.

On the other hand, I can confirm that stepping on a rake has exactly the results depicted in every Tex Avery/Chuck Jones cartoon.

Same goes for slipping on a banana skin – something that I thought occurred only in cartoons and comic strips. I once saw it happen for real and probably will never will see it happen again. Boy, does it make for a spectacular fall.

On the other hand, I can confirm that stepping on a rake has exactly the results depicted in every Tex Avery/Chuck Jones cartoon.

Same goes for slipping on a banana skin – something that I thought occurred only in cartoons and comic strips. I once saw it happen for real and probably will never will see it happen again. Boy, does it make for a spectacular fall.

I recall an episode of QI that explained how banana skinswere actually an analogue for horse shit. Streets were awash and people kept stepping in it and slipping on it but horse shit isn't the sort of thing editors wanted to see in their cartoons. So they replaced with banana peel.